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AHF & Partners Celebrate Int'l Condom Day with Events in 25 Countries

In recognition of International
Condom Day (ICD) – an informal annual celebration of safer sex
held on February 13 in conjunction with Valentine's Day – AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, is hosting or supporting condom distribution and
awareness-raising activities on every continent, spreading safer sex
messages in 25 countries around the world. The majority of the
activities will feature “Condom Flash Mobs,” which are organized
groups of people—dozens in some locations to several thousand in
others—distributing mostly AHF's
LOVE-branded condoms in high-traffic areas of each city.

A crowd marches to celebrate International Condom Day 2012 in India, February 2012 (Photo: Business Wire)

In addition to events in the majority of the 28 countries where AHF
currently provides testing, treatment, and advocacy on four continents,
the nonprofit is also supporting Condom Day events being held by local
non-government organizations (NGOs) in Greece and Portugal, as well as
providing condoms for a demonstration hosted by the local activism group
Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS (YEAH) in Melbourne, Australia. A
complete list of ICD activities can be found at: http://www.aidshealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/List-of-ICD-Condom-Flash-Mob-Events.pdf.

“Last year on International Condom Day, we took part in activities in 30
cities scattered throughout 15 countries worldwide,” said AHF President Michael
Weinstein. “The fact that we have more than doubled the numbers of
cities taking part in this normalization, encouragement, and education
surrounding condom use shows how much these countries value safer sex as
a preventive measure in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

AFRICA

AHF will be involved in condom distribution and testing activities in 15
cities throughout nine African countries through the Foundation's local
country bureaus in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa,
Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia. Each country aims to distribute tens of
thousands of condoms on International Condom Day, and many countries
have stretched the celebration out to five days or more to maximize the
impact of awareness and access to condoms. Additionally, most of the
distribution activities are coupled with testing opportunities, leading
to such inspiration goals as the Rwandese ICD targets of distributing
300,000 condoms and testing 2,400 people for HIV during the five days of
events in the Kigali marketplaces of Kimisagara, Nyamirambo, and
Gakingiro. In South Africa, the Foundation will make a strong impact on
the youth demographic through the activities planned at the University
of KwaZulu-Natal, the Durban University of Technology, and the
Mangosuthu University of Technology.

ASIA

Though China and Vietnam – two countries where AHF has been working for
years – are celebrating ICD later in the year due to the observance of
the Chinese New Year this week, the AHF partner countries of India,
Cambodia, and Nepal are all participating in condom distribution and
awareness-raising activities on February 13. In fact, AHF Cambodia's
activities in Phnom Penh will carry over to February 14, with over 170
volunteers distributing nearly 80,000 condoms at demonstrations at the
Diamond Island Hall, City Mall, Shahan Shopping Center, Chamcar Spring
Resort, SEATV Station, Kouch Kanong/Canadian Park, and Sokimex Park.
India will mark the event in three cities throughout the country, and
AHF's Nepal team will host an awareness and distribution campaign in the
Himalayan city of Kathmandu.

EUROPE

ICD activities will be held in seven European countries, several of
which in Eastern Europe – including Ukraine, Kyrgystan, and Lithuania –
have been operating AHF-supported healthcare centers for years; one of
which – the Netherlands – is home to the only Out
of the Closet Thrift Store outside of the United States, in
Amsterdam; and two of which mark new partnerships between AHF and local
NGOs in Greece and Portugal. The Foundation is partnering withPositive
Voice to support ICD events in Thessaloniki and Athens, and with GAT
Portugal – a local treatment advocacy group there – to support an event
in Lisbon.

MEXICO & CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA

Eleven cities in Mexico will be holding condom distribution activities
on February 13 to mark ICD, providing mass access to safer sex education
and materials in such states as Jalisco, San Luis Potos, Tampaulipas,
Tabasco and Veracruz, as well as in the country's capital of Mexico
City. In Central and South America, three other Latin American countries
will be celebrating International Condom Day with the help of AHF:
Guatemala, a long-standing AHF partner country; Paraguay, where AHF is
working with local organizations and providers to strengthen
partnerships through events like ICD; and Argentina, where AHF again
partners with local organizations to increase access to treatment,
testing, condoms, and education. AHF's first event in Argentina, a
Guinness World Record-setting testing event in Rosario held last World
AIDS Day (December 1), saw more than 3,700 people tested for HIV in one
city in an eight-hour time span.

UNITED STATES

Under the guidance of Condom
Nation, the innovative nationwide condom distribution initiative
spearheaded by AHF, the United States will be celebrating International
Condom Day in ten states and the District of Columbia. A total of 22
cities will be organizing condom distributing “Flash Mobs” who will be
passing out condoms in streets, malls, universities, transit and health
centers from Los Angeles to Brooklyn, and from Columbus to Dallas.
Florida will be hosting activities in six cities throughout the
Panhandle State, and California's major hubs of San Francisco, Oakland,
and Los Angeles will all be witness to Flash Mob activities, including a
march through Hollywood from AHF's Public Health Department headquarters
to the Foundation's Out of the Closet Thrift Store on Sunset Blvd.,
where radio station POWER 106 will host a small celebration to mark the
holiday.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS
healthcare provider in the USA. AHF currently provides medical care
and/or services to nearly 200,000 individuals in 28 countries worldwide
in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @AIDSHealthcare